RWBY: MUTATION
by JCtheWriterr
Summary: Genetics are an amazing part of every living thing. Humans, animals, and even the soulless Creatures of Grimm have special DNA strands that make each group unique. Humanity has researched every aspect of the Grimm genome for centuries, in an attempt to find any possible advantages against the Grimm besides Dust. But, what will happen if Humanity goes one step too far?
1. The Signs

**Hey, denizens of the Interwebs! JCtheWriterr here, with a quick author's note. Firstly, thank you so much for taking the time to read my humble upload, it really means the world to me! :D**

**Next, this is the first time I have ever written a story of such a length, and the first time publishing a story on FanFiction, or anywhere, actually, for that matter, so keep that awesome constructive feedback flowing, it will help me so much in the future! Also don't forget to show the story, (if not me :c) some love if you enjoy what you've read!**

**I do not own any part of RWBY, or any part of Monty Oum, the creator and rightful owner, for that matter. That would just be plain creepy. Think of the amount of space in my freezer I would need to clear out for that... *shudder***

**... A man needs his ice cream, okay? Don't judge! *Cue awkward silence***

**... Anyway, enough ranting from me. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the story with a mug of your beverage of choice, and... whatever you do to get yourself relaxed, really. Till the next author's note, I'll see you folks around!**

* * *

**RWBY- Mutation**

**Chapter 1: - The Signs**

"Uuunnnggghhh…"

Ruby Rose groaned as she was jarred awake by the shrill sound of her alarm clock going off. She squirmed in the warm covers and attempted in vain to wrap a pillow around her head to drown out the noise.

Suddenly, the distinct, loud crack of a shotgun went off to her left, and the skull-rattling sound of the alarm clock came to an abrupt end.

Ruby smirked to herself, knowing perfectly well who the culprit was, and silently thanked her for putting an end to her torment.

"YANG! That's our 5th alarm clock this MONTH! You have GOT to STOP DOING THAT!" an angry voice yelled from the bathroom. A white haired girl in a nightgown stomped out of the bathroom and stalked to the foot of the blonde brawler's bed. "WE ARE NOT MAKING THE TRIP TO TOWN TO GET US A REPLACEMENT AS A TEAM ANYMORE! YOU BREAK IT, YOU FIX IT!"

"…Chillax, Princess, I'll get the replacement this time… Now just let me sleep in peace…" Yang Xiao Long moaned, rolling to her side, away from Weiss.

"How do you even have Ember Celica anyway? All of our weapons are supposed to be locked up in the armoury before curfew!" asked Weiss Schnee, in an accusing tone.

"I was cleaning her last night… Happy?" Yang replied grumpily, her voice muffled by her pillow.

"Weiss, just let her be… It's a weekend, after all." Blake Belladonna sighed, briefly looking up from the book she was reading.

"Fine," the heiress grumbled, "but only because it's a weekend."

* * *

By the time Team RWBY finally dragged itself out of bed, it was already close to noon, and they made their way to the cafeteria for brunch. They piled food onto their plates, and walked over to join Team JNPR, who waved them over enthusiastically.

"Hey, guys, get a load of this!" said Jaune Arc, leader of Team JNPR, waving his scroll, on which he was reading the morning news.

"Seems like the authorities are finding an increasing number of what appears to be 'sick' creatures of Grimm." He explained as Team RWBY gathered around to peer at his scroll.

"That's strange," said Blake, furrowing her brow. "The creatures of Grimm almost NEVER get sick, there are not many known viruses that affect them…"

"As far as I can remember, there have been no reports of such a situation ever happening before…" Pyrrha Nikos remarked, rubbing her chin worriedly.

"Who cares?! If it's causing Grimm to suffer, then it's a good thing in my book!" Nora Valkyrie cut in cheerfully with her mouth full of pancakes, spraying the table in front of her with crumbs.

"Nora… It's not very nice to talk with your mouth full…" Lie Ren groaned, face palming.

"Sorrryyy Reeennn…" Nora chanted, finally swallowing.

"This can't be too much of a coincidence, can it?" Ruby asked worriedly. "Do you still remember the report a few months back about the Vale military researching a new biological weapon for use against Grimm? Could it be possible that they are testing it on Grimm in the wild?"

"Nonsense! Even if they did have such a weapon, they wouldn't test it out on the wild Grimm population! The government would never approve of such a thing! What if the weapon has deadly side effects for humans? They would be risking the lives of anyone who enters the Grimms' habitat, including us!" Weiss scoffed. Ruby nodded, hoping with all of her heart that Weiss was right.

Just then, Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch strode calmly into the cafeteria, and came to a stop in the centre of the room, causing the chatter in the cafeteria to die down as everyone turned to look at them curiously.

Following closely behind them were four teenagers, a boy of average height with messy, raven black hair with alternating gold and silver highlights in a blue hooded cape of a similar style to Ruby's, except it was fastened with a single golden cross instead of two silver ones, a tall, lean boy in a brown, knee-length leather duster and a cowboy hat with shoulder-length blonde hair pulled back into a small ponytail, a towering, bulky boy with chocolate brown hair in paladin's armour with large shoulder pauldrons and a dark grey travelling cloak, and a girl who appeared to be the twin sister of the paladin, albeit a few heads shorter, and with visible streaks of silver in her hair. She was dressed in a simple grey combat skirt with brown leather armour covering vital areas. They lined up in an orderly row beside Professor Ozpin.

"Students, I would like you to meet the newest members to our Beacon family, Team Cyclone, or CYCN. They have just been transferred from Guardian Academy in Atlas, and will be joining you in classes from next week. I hope they will be welcomed into our faculty with open arms by our student community, make many new friends, and on the whole enjoy their studies with us. Let's give them a warm Beacon welcome, shall we?"

The cafeteria broke into warm applause, and the team politely bowed in acknowledgement, before turning to exit the cafeteria.

The boy in the blue cape looked around at the cafeteria one more time, and unconsciously made eye contact with Ruby, noticing how her outfit was similar in some ways to his.

Ruby, who had been subconsciously watching the boy from a distance in a dreamy manner, blushed furiously and quickly looked down at her plate. A small smile appeared on the boy's face, and he blushed slightly too as he began to stride out of the cafeteria.

"What's the matter, Ruby?" Yang asked mischievously, winking at her younger sister. "Something catch your eye?"

"It's… It's nothing…" Ruby blushed an even deeper shade of red, and began attacking her pancakes with renewed determination.

"Hey, I don't blame you!" Yang said ruffling Ruby's hair. "I myself wouldn't mind having a slice of Mr Cowboy over there…" She purred, gazing wistfully at the boy in question as he exited the cafeteria.

"Yang… I said, it's NOTHING…" Ruby growled, shoving her elder sister away.

"Riiggghht…" Yang said sarcastically. "And you hate anything that has sugar in it. Especially cookies."

Ruby continued to eat her pancakes in stony silence, pointedly ignoring her.

"Aww, C'mon Rubes, don't be shy, spill the beans!" Yang chuckled, flicking a baked bean at the side of her head. That was the last straw.

"Yang. Xiao. Long." Ruby hissed dangerously. "I believe," she unveiled a pair of scissors from her pocket. "It's time for you to have a haircut…"

Yang's lilac eyes widened in horror. "You… You wouldn't!" Ruby let the scissors do the talking. _Snip, snip, snip…_

Yang got up from her seat and sprinted out of the cafeteria in fear, Ruby in close pursuit, waving the scissors menacingly in the air, with the remaining people at the table bursting into uncontrollable laughter, clutching their sides.

"D'you think Ruby's really gonna do it?" Blake asked Weiss, trying unsuccessfully to wipe her tears of mirth.

"She's just playing with Yang," Weiss replied, smirking slightly. "If she was being serious, she would have activated her speed semblance by now, and Yang would've had to change the 'Long' in her name to 'Short'…"

Blake blinked, and stared at Weiss in a mixture of disbelief and amusement. "Did you just—"

"Yes, Blake, yes I did." Weiss's smirk grew wider. "Don't expect any more puns from me in a long time. I fear Yang is finally beginning to rub off on me…"

* * *

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the forest of Forever Fall, a teenaged girl named Sara Summers knelt down at the foot of one of the many trees with brilliant red-orange leaves and carved into the relatively thick bark with her machete, before holding an empty glass jar to the cut.

Soon, a slightly thick, red, syrupy liquid started flowing forth from the cut, and slowly filled up the jar to its brim. Sara, unable to resist the temptation, dipped her finger into the jar and brought it to her mouth, allowing herself to savour the luscious, sugary flavour.

Ahh, red sap. Not only does it taste like liquid heaven, it also has many medicinal properties that are used in home remedies as an antiseptic for cuts and bruises, a quick cure for a sore throat, and even a treatment for minor aches and pains. _A food that is as good for you as it tastes, what's to hate?_ Sara wondered to herself, smiling as she sealed the jar.

Suddenly, she was startled from her thoughts by the sound of snapping twigs and heavy footfalls on the dry, leafy forest floor. She quickly grabbed her sling bag and held it close to her, holding out her machete in a defensive stance.

_Crap… I didn't know that creatures of Grimm even came this far out of the forest!_ She thought to herself as she scanned her surroundings warily.

Before she could react, a large black mass tackled her from her left and sent her sprawling on her back, grunting in pain as she hit the ground. She opened her eyes to find herself face to face with a massive Beowolf.

The beast let out a feral roar and raised its paw to swipe at Sara's neck. Sara reflexively raised her left hand to block the attack and the Beowolf's claws cut deeply into her forearm.

Yelling out in agony, she desperately thrust her right hand, which held her machete, at the Beowolf, and by an incredible stroke of luck, managed to stab it in the throat. The Beowolf stumbled away from Sara, blood spraying from the wound in its neck. It attempted to howl, but all that came from its throat was a wet gurgling sound as it keeled over, dead.

Sara limped over to make sure the beast was down for good, and her eyes widened in surprise. Sure, it was as dead as the fallen leaves around it, but the Beowolf was unlike any Beowolf she had ever seen before.

The Beowolf's extra-large size was actually caused by various, diseased-looking swellings across most of its body, and its signature glowing red eyes had taken on a greenish tinge.

_Whatever happened to this Grimm, I don't like it… I'd better get back home and treat my injuries…_ Sara thought to herself, wincing in pain as she saw the deep lacerations running the length of her forearm, from which blood freely flowed. She quickly gathered her belongings and, with what little strength she had left, struggled her way back to her home on the outskirts of Vale.

* * *

**_Two days later…_**

"Oh, dear…" Weiss said as she saw the headlines of the morning news, getting the attention of the other members of Teams RWBY and JNPR who were seated with her in the cafeteria.

"Death toll from mystery Grimm-transmitted infection grows to 10?" Ruby read out loud as she peered over Weiss's shoulder, "What's that about?"

"A 16-year-old girl, Sara Summers, is the latest in a series of rapid, unexplained deaths from severe infection of wounds sustained from Grimm encounters over this past weekend." Weiss began to read the article out loud.

"Interestingly, all victims were attacked by what seemed to be infected Grimm at different times on Saturday. All victims also treated their wounds or sought professional medical attention within hours of getting injured. The similarities do not end there. By Saturday night, all victims started experiencing flu-like symptoms like a high fever, sneezing, severe cough, and joint and muscle pain, due to their wounds becoming infected. Their conditions continued to deteriorate on Sunday morning, and the six earliest deaths were recorded by Sunday night. The next three deaths occurred on Monday morning, and Ms Summers was pronounced dead by Monday afternoon. Interviews carried out with family members of the deceased have revealed that the victims mostly were injured through slash or bite wounds from the claws or teeth of the infected Grimm, which means that the infection was likely spread by physical contact or blood-to-blood contact. Autopsies carried out by Evermore Hospital's Forensics Department on the earlier victims have shown that the wounds and the skin surrounding them had turned black, but oddly not due to gangrene. The true cause continues to elude researchers. As many as 50 other cases of this new, mystery infection have been admitted or transferred to Evermore Hospital's Infectious Diseases Department as of press time. The Vytal Health Ministry has advised the populace to stay indoors as much as possible and avoid any encounters with Creatures of Grimm. It has also stated that in the scenario that you are faced with one, DO NOT ENGAGE. Attempt your best to evade, and avoid ANY physical contact," Weiss finished, setting her scroll down on the cafeteria table and looking up at the rest of her friends.

"Well. That escalated quickly…" Jaune mumbled, swallowing a bite of his shepherd's pie with a worried frown on his face.

"Seems like this is no longer a laughing matter…" Ren mused, while attempting to fend off Nora's feverish attempts to steal the food off his plate with little success.

"Three days. That's all it took. And now 10 people are dead, maybe even more. If this doesn't cause mass hysteria soon, I don't know what will." Said Pyrrha, looking up from her own scroll, on which she had been reading the same story.

Several seconds of heavy silence followed as the two teams contemplated this new, very real threat. "Well, it appears we have a very GRIMM situation on our hands…" Yang suddenly snorted. 7 hands face palmed in perfect synchrony, but some among the group still smiled despite themselves.

"…DUST DAMMIT, SIS! REALLY? All the millions of topic to make a pun about, and this is the one you choose?!" Ruby glared at Yang in disbelief.

"Yikes, Rubes, just trying to improve the mood here…" Yang replied sheepishly, raising her hands in mock surrender.

"As much as I'd hate to admit it, Yang's right. The last thing we need in this situation is to be thinking negatively, the situation is bad enough as it is." said Blake, with a small smile gracing her features. "I think it's time we made our way to Professor Oobleck's class, we all know very well he isn't too fond of tardiness…"

The others nodded affirmatively, and proceeded to make their way out of the cafeteria.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter, until the next update, I will see you around!:)**


	2. Gear Up!

**Hey guys! JCtheWriterr here, with chapter two of RWBY: MUTATION! But before we get to the main attraction, I would like to talk about a few things.**

**First of all, you guys are AMAZING. THANK YOU SO MUCH to the 98 visitors who have read the previous chapter of my story, it has been a great source of encouragement to me! :D Also to the people who have been so kind to follow and favourite my story, you guys are AWESOME, you have no idea how much it means to me as a first time fan-fiction writer. :) **

**Next, like I have mentioned in the previous chapter, constructive feedback is always welcome, and it would make my day if you could take some time to let me know how i'm doing, whether there is any room for improvement, and maybe even give me some of your own suggestions for what you want to see in future chapters! If you have anything of that sort, do drop a review!**

**Finally, some bad news... :'( I have major examinations coming up in the next three weeks, meaning I will have to go into full-on cramming mode for this period of time, and thus, will be unable to update this story for an extended period of time. I apologise in advance for this, and reiterate that I absolutely HATE to leave you guys hanging a mere two chapters into this story. I promise that I will be up and about rattling off updates for this story as soon as I have the opportunity, so do stay tuned for more content from me in the nearest possible future!**

**With that painful stuff aside, I believe the usual formalities are in order: I do not own any part of RWBY, or any part of Monty Oum for that matter. I only own my original characters, and the laptop I am typing this story with.**

**I hope you enjoy this new chapter as much as I have enjoyed putting it together, and if you do, a favourite, follow, or review would brighten my day. Sit back, relax with a beverage of your preference, and enjoy the story!**

**Until the next author's note, I will see you guys around!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Gear Up!**

Ruby sighed and rested her head on her desk. She had just spent the past 45 minutes of Professor Oobleck's lecture attempting in vain to follow the tall, thin man as he almost literally teleported from one end of the classroom to another.

His faster than normal rate of movement was only further augmented by the fact that he was high on caffeine, supplied by his trusty mug which he seemed to almost perpetually have in his hand.

As a result, his normally almost indecipherable hand gestures and speech were accelerated into a fluid blur of motion that none but the sharpest, most attentive of Beacon's students could fully understand.

Ruby, who fortunately was blessed with the semblance of speed, was one of them, but attempting to follow the Professor for longer than half an hour was nothing short of suicide, even for the scythe-wielder. Not to mention it gave her a sore neck for the next few days.

So, like the dozens of brave Hunters and Huntresses-in-training with her in the classroom, she finally chose the wisest course of action: Give up.

She was in the middle of a daydream about a wonderland where everything was made of chocolate chip cookies when the loud crackle of the school-wide intercom shook her from her reverie.

The familiar voice of Professor Glynda Goodwitch resounded through the halls of the school. "Teams RWBY, JNPR and CYCN, please proceed to Professor Ozpin's office immediately."

Ruby turned to look at her teammates with a worried expression on her face. They shrugged at her, as confused as she was.

What could Professor Ozpin possibly need of them? They rarely, if ever, got summoned by their enigmatic Headmaster. The sole occasion it had happened was due to Yang landing Cardin Winchester in the infirmary with several broken ribs. He had stolen and hung Ruby's hood over the doorway of the auditorium, in petty revenge for the red reaper humiliating him during combat training several days prior.

Professor Goodwitch had wanted to mete out a heavier consequence for Yang's actions, but Professor Ozpin had simply let her off with a light warning to control her temper.

Ruby turned to make eye contact with Jaune, with her eyebrow raised in a silent question. The blonde knight merely replied her with a shrug as well, mirroring her confusion.

Meanwhile, after some hesitation, the members of Team CYCN got up from their seats near the front row, and began to proceed out of the classroom. The boy in the blue cape looked up at Ruby and Jaune, and beckoned them to follow suit with a slight smile.

"Well Miss Rose, Mr Arc, I suggest you not keep Professor Ozpin waiting. Whatever it is he is calling you for, it must be of some importance." Said Professor Oobleck, in his rapid-fire drone. Ruby and Jaune nodded quickly and gathered their teammates, joining Team CYCN in the corridor.

Once they were in the corridor, the boy in blue extended his hand in greeting, to all of the members from both teams. "Hello, everyone. My name is Cepphyre Skye, and I'm the leader of team CYCN. You can call me Ceph for short," said Ceph in a friendly tone, to a chorus of greetings from the members of teams RWBY and JNPR.

"Mr Cowboy goes by the name York," York tipped his hat with a grin to the others.

"Mr Juggernaut over there is Colin," The heavily-built boy lifted a hand in a casual salute to the teams, "The pleasure's mine." Said Colin in a deep baritone, smiling.

"Colin is the elder brother of Miss Almost-Mute over there, who would appreciate it if you called her Nat."

Nat raised her hand shyly in greeting, before glaring at him reproachfully. "C'mon, it's a fact!" Ceph chuckled, "You really DON'T talk much!" "I… Talk when it's necessary, unlike you…" Nat quietly retorted.

"Team CYCN was the best performing team in their year at Guardian Academy. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person." Weiss smiled, having accepted Ceph's hand of greeting.

"How would you kno-?" Yang was cut off mid-sentence by Weiss, who shot back at her, "Some people actually BOTHERED to do their research in preparation for the Vytal Tournament, unlike yourself?"

"Of course you would, Weiss, of course you would." Yang sighed, amused by her teammate's competitiveness.

"Like Colin has mentioned, the pleasure is ours," Ceph continued excitedly, "Team CYCN, working with Teams RWBY and JNPR, the champion and runner-up in this year's Vytal Tournament? I'm a HUGE fan of your weapon designs, your combat styles... EVERYTHING!" Ceph gushed, attracting an embarrassed grin from York.

"You'll have to excuse our dear leader here, my friends," He explained sheepishly in a thick Southern accent. "He's a massive weapon nut, went almost catatonic from ecstasy when he saw the variety of weapons that the students have here in Beacon on the first day…"

"Huh. Seems like Ceph and Rubes have more in common than just their capes, then," Yang smirked. "You two should get together more often."

Ceph and Ruby blushed crimson simultaneously, and Ruby turned to stare daggers at her. "Just saying…" Yang shrugged, raising her hands in mock defeat.

York grinned mischievously, before cuffing Ceph under his arm, and proceeding to ruffle his hair. "Is that the sound of wedding bells I hear? When will you be handing out invitations? Will there be cake?"

Ceph squirmed uncomfortably in York's grasp for a few moments, before he suddenly managed to flip the cowboy down on the floor with a well-executed judo tackle. Satisfied with his handiwork, Ceph proceeded to dust himself off, leaving York to painfully get back to his feet.

"S-sorry, Ruby, York's sense of humour can get quite ridiculous at times… Hope his mouth doesn't eventually ruin our friendship…" Ceph growled, half in annoyance and half in amusement. He punched York lightly on the shoulder, eliciting an exaggerated "OW!" from the cowboy.

"Tell me about it…" Ruby replied, though with a slight note of disappointment. "My sis never fails to find humour at the worst possible times…"

"Hey!" Yang yelled, arms akimbo. "I tried to do you lovebirds a favour, playing matchmaker, and this is how you repay me?"

"Yeah, we were only trying to help speed up the inevitable… You didn't need to shoot us down like that..." York grumbled.

Yang and York exchanged a high-five, bursting into laughter.

Ceph and Ruby exchanged exasperated looks, eyes twitching, and turned back to the insufferable blonde pair. "SHUT UP ALREADY!" they yelled in unison, all but ready to pounce on the duo to put a painful end to their incessant teasing.

"Guys? I hate to interrupt your 'matchmaking'…" Jaune cut in with a sheepish smile, "But we should really get going, Ozpin's waiting for us…"

"Understood, Vomit Boy. Let's go!" Yang exclaimed, waving the others forward. This elicited a groan from Jaune.

"You're just not going to let me live that one down, are you?" he grumbled, shaking his head.

As the three teams started to walk at a brisk pace in the direction of Ozpin's office, Yang noticed Ruby had not moved from her position, and that the redhead had a faraway expression on her face.

Yang waited until the others were out of earshot.

"Ruby…?" Yang tapped her on the shoulder, trying hard not to laugh.

"WHA—NO-I WASN'T—STARING-" Ruby yelped, blushing as fiercely as her namesake.

"I KNEW IT! MY LITTLE SISTER HAS A CRUSH!" Yang squealed, crushing Ruby with a massive bear hug.

"S-shut up! I just think Ceph's kinda cute, okay?! No big deal! CUT IT OUT!" Ruby yowled, trying desperately to struggle out of Yang's vice-like grip.

Once she finally freed herself, Ruby activated her semblance, disappearing in a cloud of rose petals as she bolted off to join the others.

Yang sang after her, "Don't worrryyy… Your secret is safe with me…!"

* * *

Professor Ozpin sighed heavily as he put his personal scroll down upon his desk, and tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose.

_Ozpin, no matter how much faith you have in them, they are still KIDS! They aren't old enough to go on missions unsupervised, let alone a mission of this level of difficulty! You may as well be sending them to their deaths!_ Professor Goodwitch's words of protest from a few moments prior echoed in his mind, and he gritted his teeth as he fought down the rising uncertainty in the back of his mind, sighing yet again. _I wish there were a better way, Glynda. I really do._

He took a long swig from his trusty coffee mug, and silently reflected upon the way he had replied her. _I have said it before, and I will say it again, Glynda. I have made more mistakes than any person on Remnant. It goes without saying that I already regret having to make this decision, however the circumstances have forced our hand. We have no other choice. In the time that we have had to observe them, these teams, though young and inexperienced, have shown time and again that they possess raw skill and tactical thinking on the battlefield that rivals the very best that our active Huntsmen and Huntresses have to offer, and as such present themselves as the unfortunate best alternative to a battle-tested Hunter team that the network simply cannot afford to spare at the_ _moment! _At this, Professor Ozpin slammed his fist down on the glass surface of the desk and let out an uncharacteristic growl of frustration. _Damn it all, _he swore internally. _These children have done nothing to deserve being denied a safe, normal 4 years in Beacon! __Why do they have to face the harsh reality of this cruel world any sooner than graduation day? _The silver-haired man got to his feet paced the marble floor of his office restlessly, cursing the unfairness of it all.

A flashing, holographic notification appeared on the Headmaster's desk, bringing his thoughts back to the present. _Access Requested_, it said. Getting to his feet, he glanced at the live feed from the security camera in the elevator, which also served as the entrance to his office. When he saw that it was Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CYCN waiting patiently inside, he took a moment to compose himself, and straightened his suit jacket, which had become slightly wrinkled after his outburst.

"Come in!" Professor Ozpin called out, tapping the notification to grant access to the students. The three teams exited the lift and proceeded to gather around Ozpin's desk in an orderly fashion.

"You called for us, Professor Ozpin?" Ruby asked Ozpin curiously.

"Indeed, Miss Rose." Professor Ozpin started. "What I am about to tell you is highly classified and you are not to provide any explanation to anybody other than the other Professors if questioned about the matter. Is that clear?"

Ruby, Jaune and Ceph traded apprehensive looks, before nodding.

"I know that you are only coming to the end of your first year of training as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we will need to… speed things up a little. Teams RWBY and JNPR. You have been consistently been the best performing teams of your cohort, with academic and training results that far surpass your closest competition. Not only that, but you even have some... real world experience to boot," Ozpin smiled at the two teams knowingly.

He was alluding to the two teams' joint effort in foiling the plans of notorious criminal masterminds Cinder Fall and Roman Torchwick to usurp the central government of the Kingdom of Vale during the Vytal Tournament. A large number of White Fang members and wanted criminals working under the duo were also rounded up in the ensuing government crackdown. The members of Teams RWBY and JNPR squirmed uncomfortably under the Headmaster's piercing gaze, and could only smile sheepishly in reply.

The fact that it had been the two teams of young Hunters-in-Training who had taken down the two most wanted criminals in Vale, and not the authorities, was not common knowledge. It was only by the kindness of the head of Vale's police force, Commissioner Burns, that the two teams had been quietly given a pat on their backs and allowed to walk away scot-free. Vigilante justice was considered a serious offence in the four kingdoms, punishable by law.

"Team CYCN. You have shown yourself to possess one of the highest levels of proficiency ever seen in your prowess as future Huntsmen and Huntresses in the history of Guardian Academy, which I am sure you will continue to display in your continued studies with Beacon." Team CYCN's confused expressions from Team RWBY's and JNPR's weird behaviour changed into expressions of pride and humility.

"We will continue to work even harder than we have done while in Guardian, sir, we will not disappoint you." Ceph declared, with conviction in his voice, and the member of his team nodded in affirmation.

"Of that I am sure, Mr Skye." Ozpin smiled.

"Now, the reason for gathering you here today. It is with great honour and pleasure that I declare your collective promotions to the rank of Class Five Junior Hunters, or the lowest rank in the Hunter hierarchy, a rank which is usually attained at the end of your second year in Beacon. Ruby Rose will additionally be granted the title of Section Leader, which gives her seniority over the three teams. Jaune Arc and Cepphyre Skye will be second- and third- in command respectively."

The members of the three teams glanced at each other in a mixture of disbelief and excitement.

Professor Ozpin walked up to each of them, pinning a bronze badge in the shape of a miniature Beowolf skull to their collars.

"Congratulations on your promotions." A small smile found its way to Ozpin's face as he stepped away from Nora Valkyrie, who had been the last to receive her badge. She beamed at Ozpin, before turning to fling her arms around Ren, nearly causing the poor boy's knees to buckle under her unexpected weight.

Yang, on the other hand, crushed her younger sister in of her signature bear hugs. "I'm so PROUD of you! My baby sister's becoming a LEADER!" she squealed. Ruby blushed and tried to yell at her sister in embarrassment, but only managed a weak wheeze in response as Yang's hug had knocked the air out of her lungs.

"Yang… Sorry to ruin the moment, but Ruby needs to breathe, you know…" Blake tapped Yang on her shoulder, barely holding back her laughter. Yang's eyes flew open in realisation, and she hastily released her grip on Ruby. Ruby drew in a ragged breath, fresh air finally flooding her lungs, and she gave Blake a weak thumbs-up in gratitude. "Sorry sis…" Yang said sheepishly.

Ozpin was unable to hold back a smile as he saw the joy of the three teams before him, and decided to allow them some time for celebration before continuing, his expression growing serious.

"This of course means that you will be able to accept and go on missions without senior Hunter supervision, starting from the one I have for you today." Ozpin paused to pick up his personal scroll from his desk.

"About half an hour ago, a distress call was sent out on the Hunter network by the Vale Police Department. It was a request for immediate Hunter assistance due to what could possibly be the emergence of a new form of Grimm. The report details that the "Grimm" have been successfully quarantined by the police within the Mount Evermore Hospital in downtown Vale, and that unfortunately, most of the patients and staff are still inside. As of the time we received the distress call, no active Huntsmen or Huntresses in Vale were available to render assistance as they are all tied in with efforts to eliminate existing infected Grimm from the forested areas in the vicinity of the city limits. This is where you come in. Your mission is to infiltrate the hospital with an assault team of SWAT officers and attempt to exterminate the hospital of Grimm, rescuing any survivors you may find along the way." Ozpin set down the scroll and took a sip from his coffee mug.

"An armed police Bullhead dropship will be on station at the main gate of the academy for you in 10 minutes, I would advise you head down to the armoury and gear up for combat. I wish you dustspeed, and know that I have nothing less than complete faith in your abilities." Ozpin finished, with a small smile on his face as he snapped a crisp salute to the three teams, which they promptly returned.

"Thank you for believing in us, sir." Ruby said, a look of grim determination etched onto her features. She turned to her teammates. "Let's suit up and meet at the main gate in 10, guys! Go, go, go!"

The members of the three teams did not have to be told twice.

They met Ruby's look of steely determination with affirmative smiles of their own and spun on their heels, re-entering the elevator from which they had came from earlier.

"Oh, and one more thing," Ozpin called out after the three leaders as they reached the door. Ruby, Jaune and Ceph paused and turned to face Ozpin. "Yes, sir?" Ruby asked.

"This promotion will not only be exclusive to you and your members. If I can deem the other teams in your cohort ready, I will not hesitate to promote them to operation-ready status at the earliest possible timing. However, you will have seniority over them and you will be able to give out orders as to the roles they should play in any conflict, if this situation escalates any further than it has already."

"That's great to hear, sir." Jaune smiled at Ozpin. "If this situation turns out to be as serious as it sounds, we're going to need all the help we can get." With that, the trio exited Ozpin's office, closing the door behind them.

As the doors of the elevator sealed shut behind them, a small, worried frown found its way to Ozpin's face, and he drank deeply from his coffee mug. _Dustspeed, my dear students, Dustspeed_.

The three teams arrived at the armoury, and immediately sprang into action.

The members of Teams RWBY, JNPR and CYCN parted their ways to their individual lockers, keying in their access codes and retrieving the contents within. Lifting Crescent Rose from its rack within her locker, Ruby glanced over curiously in the direction of Team CYCN's lockers.

Catching her eye first was Ceph, as he slung a combat harness over his shoulders. At the chest area, there appeared to be two over-sized combat knives attached to the harness by sheathes that seemed to double up as a form of chest plate due to their size. Ceph then proceeded to draw the knives, which seemed to be ordinary-looking at first, until blue, glowing blades of energy suddenly flared to life, appearing to hover just over the actual knife blades, like an extension of them. Upon the press of a button, the knives then transformed into a pair of Desert Eagle-pattern pistols with the blades doubling up as the barrels. Satisfied that they were in working order, Ceph transformed them back into their combat knife forms and sheathed them.

Ruby's eyes widened in wonder, impressed by the display.

She then observed as York cycled his weapon from what appeared to be a large great sword, into a compound crossbow complete with a sniper scope, and then into a Mk.14 Enhanced Battle Rifle. He smirked in satisfaction, and slung the rifle onto his back.

_He must be the team's marksman,_ Ruby thought, letting out a low whistle of amazement.

Next, she looked at Colin, who was hefting an intimidating-looking battle-axe with Burn crystals jutting out of slots in the weapon. He transformed it into what appeared to be a heavily modified Mk. 48 light machine gun form, before he slung it over his shoulder, and grabbed a bandolier of seemingly nothing but various dust crystals.

_That's an interesting weapon,_ Ruby gushed internally. _I wonder what it does?_

Finally, her eyes came to rest upon Nat, and she blinked in surprise. Nat was merely seated on an ammunition crate near her teammates, not doing any preparations whatsoever. If anything, she actually seemed bored.

_She doesn't use a regular weapon? Well, that's strange…_ Ruby pondered. _Maybe she's a dust user?_

Ruby suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump.

"Are you done with your preparations? The other teams are ready to go." Blake asked gently, Gambol Shroud slung on her back. She was accompanied by Weiss, who had Myrtenaster attached in its rightful place on her belt. The heiress gave her partner a small nod.

"U-uh yeah, just gimme a sec…" Ruby blinked, snapping out of her thoughts. She quickly mounted Crescent Rose on her back, and grabbed several extra clips of ammo for her trusty sniper scythe.

Upon seeing that the others were ready, Yang threw two belts of 12-gauge 'Dragon's Breath' shells into the air in a graceful arc, the loading mechanism of Ember Celica promptly catching them and storing the ammunition. "Let's rock 'n' roll!" she crowed, pumping her fists together to rack the pump-action, chambering the first shells into each of the gauntlets.

"Alright teams, let's head down to the main gate!" said Ruby, closing the door of her locker.

* * *

The three teams made their way down to the airship docks at the main gate, where a solitary Bullhead dropship with the crest of the Vale Police Department emblazoned on its side awaited them, engines humming. On the boarding ramp stood a young lady with purple eyes and bubblegum-pink hair in a pixie cut, dressed in a navy-blue flight suit. She waved to the approaching group cheerfully, and firmly shook the hand of each person as they boarded the ramp of the Bullhead.

"Welcome aboard, fellas!" She grinned, donning a pilot's helmet as she spoke, "The name's Kylie, Kylie Falcone, and I'll be your crew chief for this flight. You can call the man behind the stick CJ!"

The pilot, whose features save for his mouth and nose were concealed by the tinted visor of his helmet, stuck his head out of the cockpit and flashed the group a toothy smile. "Pleasure to meet y'all! Buckle in and make yourselves comfortable, we dust off in 30 seconds." With that, he retreated back into the cockpit, and began preparations for take-off.

"And these two trigger-happy blokes on the guns are Grant and Walker." Kylie stuck her thumb back towards the gunners manning their stations on either side of the dropship. They were attired in a similar fashion to CJ, with helmets mostly obscuring their features.

Grant, the taller of the two, who was positioned on the right, gave a friendly wave, while Walker, the gunner on the left, burst out laughing, and crowed, "You said it, Birdy! Give us a target, and leave the rest to us. Not that there will be much left by the time we're done with it, of course!"

Kylie rolled her eyes, and answered the quizzical expression that had appeared on Ruby's face. "This idiot," she jabbed a thumb at Walker, "decided to give me the nickname "Birdy", all because my last name sounds like "falcon". And I distinctly remember telling him, that I DON'T like being called that!" she growled, glaring at Walker.

"Aww, you'll always be a little, adorable birdy in our hearts, Kylie, don't even try to change that…" Walker sang, flapping his hands and managing to look remarkably like a navy-blue canary.

"Shut it, Walker, you sure talk big for a short guy like yourself. You'd better make good to that statement you made earlier if we run into anything later, or else all the beers tonight are on you…"

Walker's face, or what could be seen of it below his visor immediately sunk into an angry pout. "I'm only half a head shorter than you! I can't help it that you're tall for a woman!"

Kylie turned to look at Yang and Pyrrha, who were at least a full head taller than her, and the other girls present for that matter, and smirked at Walker. "Yeah, right. You want to say someone's tall for a woman, you should say it to their faces." She jabbed her thumbs at the brawler and the spartan. Yang grinned and pretended to blush, waving a hand dismissively at the crew chief. "Oh, stop it you…" Pyrrha simply smiled and nodded gracefully in acknowledgement of the compliment.

"Fine, you win…" Walker grumbled, and fell silent.

Satisfied, Kylie turned back to the students, who were all strapped securely into their seats. "All buckled up? Good." She rapped on the door-frame of the cockpit, and keyed her helmet's microphone. "Take us up, CJ!"

"With pleasure, Chief!" CJ replied cheerfully, as he applied power to the Bullhead's two dust-powered jet engines, and the mid-sized dropship rose gracefully into the air.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! Until the next chapter, I will see you guys around!:D**


	3. The First Encounter

**Hey guys! JCtheWriterr back from the dead(AT LONG LAST), with chapter three of RWBY: MUTATION! **

**I KNOW, I haven't updated in almost 3 months, and I believe I have explained the reason behind to some extent it in the previous chapter, but it does not justify me being absent for 3 WHOLE MONTHS! Well, let me explain. My life has been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster over the past 3 months, and I kept lapsing into writer's block when I really wanted to make any form of progress with the story, and this chapter in particular. **

**So, I've finally managed to pull myself back from the brink of depression, and have rattled away at my trusty keyboard to bring you almost 6000 words of content in this chapter. Neither the longest chapter you've ever seen, nor the best written, but it's the very best I can do after this trying time in my life. I would like to apologise profusely once again for my prolonged absence, and hopefully I will be able to update more frequently now, to bring you awesome people the rest of the story that is RWBY: MUTATION.**

**With that depressing shit aside, I would like to thank every one of the 325 visitors who have read my first ever story, you have no idea how much it means to me. This story has reached 503 views, even after I went silent for so long, and it really blows my mind that my humble work has been read by so many people. Sure, it's a small number in comparison to many of the better written stories on FanFiction, but it is a huge number to me, and it makes me so proud and grateful that my story has been worth your time.**

**On that note, I believe the usual formalities are in order: I do not own any part of RWBY, or any part of Monty Oum that I may or may not have received for Christmas... I only own my original characters, and the laptop I am typing this story with.**

**I hope you enjoy this new chapter as much as I have enjoyed putting it together, and if you do, a favourite, follow, or review would brighten my day so, so much. Sit back, relax with a beverage of your preference, and enjoy the story!**

**Until the next author's note, a very HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all, and I will see you guys around!:D**

* * *

**Chapter 3: The First Encounter**

The Bullhead ascended steadily, its thrusters angling horizontally as it began to accelerate away from Beacon's main gate.

Unlike the standard utility Bullhead, this one had been extensively modified, with extra armour plating covering much of the dropship's exterior.

Grant and Walker each manned 7.62mm M240B GPMGs through firing ports in the side of the Bullhead just aft of the cockpit.

Under the nose, a barbette swivelled in various directions, sporting a menacing GAU-19/B tri-barrelled 0.50 caliber auto cannon, its on-board computer scanning the surrounding airspace for threats.

As luck would have it, a Nevermore, its size rivalling that of the one Teams RWBY and JNPR faced during their initiation, saw the Bullhead approaching its roost, and, thinking it was an easy picking, launched itself straight at the dropship, letting out a blood-curdling roar. Big mistake.

The GAU-19 spun to life, spitting explosive shells at a blinding 2000 rounds-per-minute toward the unsuspecting target. After a mere 5 seconds of sustained fire, the Nevermore was quite literally vapourised by the constant hailstorm of projectiles, a fine red mist and several feathers the only indication that it had ever existed.

Yang, who witnessed the carnage along with the others on board, whistled appreciatively. "Well. That Nevermore certainly will bother us nevermore…"

Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Jaune and Ren cradled their faces in their hands, grimacing.

"Well, it seems that we are in the presence of a true Puntress-in-Training…" York laughed, putting on his best, most boisterous impression of Professor Port. "Don't encourage her!" hissed Ruby, as Yang took a mock bow, and replied, "Thank you, 'Professor'! I take pride in being one of, if not the, best at what I do." Ruby rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her elder sister, to which the fiery blonde chuckled, "Oh, you're just jealous at my way with words, sis… Deal with it!"

With that, Yang pulled out her pair of aviator sunglasses, and donned them proudly. "Now, are there any other topics out there that need the Yang treatment?"

Ruby groaned in frustration and stuffed her fingers into her ears to drown out Yang's voice, looking absolutely miserable.

Weiss gently patted Ruby's shoulder in commiseration, and contemplated freezing Yang's mouth shut with ice dust. She ruled the thought out when she remembered Yang's fiery semblance could probably melt through whatever the heiress threw at her within seconds.

Blake became extremely interested with the inner workings of the buckle of her seat's harness, deeply regretting not bringing a book with her on the mission, if only to make Yang's insufferable sense of humour marginally more tolerable.

The members of Team JNPR found themselves clinging on to every last of Nora's words as she ranted excitably about how she was planning to mount a sloth-firing version of the GAU-19/B cannon on her next iteration of Magnhild, with not even Ren attempting to correct her clearly flawed logic.

Ceph was shooting sympathetic glances at the members of Team RWB, his ears and sanity protected by headphones and an MP3 player which he had seemingly materialised from nowhere, while Colin and Nat observed from the side lines with bemused expressions. York had all but turned traitor as he challenged Yang to see who could make the worst pun.

15 minutes and a seemingly endless torrent of terrible puns later, the Bullhead finally arrived at its destination, slowing down into a steady hover, before it descended down on the tarmac in front of the hospital, behind a massive police roadblock.

"Alright guys, this is your stop! We'll be on patrol in the vicinity, so give us a heads-up when you need a lift back to Beacon, or you need us to provide air support in the event that shit hits the fan… Good luck!" Kylie, who had been up front in the cockpit the whole trip, was blissfully unaware of what had transpired in the rear, and cheerfully waved again as the three teams began to disembark.

"Copy that, Kylie. We'll see you later." Ruby managed a weak smile and nod to the pink-haired crew chief, before hopping off the dropship's ramp.

As Teams RWBY, JNPR and CYCN approached the hospital building, they were greeted by a bespectacled middle-aged bear of a man, dressed in an orange HAZMAT suit. Ruby's eyes widened in recognition, and she began moving towards him, signalling the others to follow her.

"'Bout damn time the cavalry arrived!" The police chief smiled wearily as the young huntsmen and huntresses jogged across the tarmac to assemble around him.

"Commissioner Burns! It's good to see you again!" Ruby greeted politely, extending her hand to the middle-aged man, who took it in a firm shake.

"Likewise, Miss Rose! It's been a while since we last met, I hope you and your team have been well?" Burns replied, smiling warmly.

"Yup!" Ruby nodded, returning the smile happily. "As good as always!"

"Although it's been pretty boring lately, what with the lack of things exploding around us and wanted criminals after our blood…" Yang quipped, causing Burns and the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR to burst into laughter.

Grinning widely, the Commissioner turned to greet the blond team leader of Team JNPR.

"It's good to see you too Mr Arc, how are you holding up? Your fighting skills have improved from the last time we met, I hope?" Burns jested, laughing heartily.

"I-I would like to think so…" Jaune replied, laughing sheepishly. "I'd hate to let Pyrrha down, after all the training she's been helping me with recently…" Pyrrha beamed and rested her hand on her team leader's shoulder. "Jaune, your skills have improved immensely since we started our training together, there is no way you'll ever let me down!"

"Thanks, Pyrrha, I really don't deserve your kindness…" Jaune replied his red-headed partner bashfully. Pyrrha's eyes darkened slightly, and, grabbing him forcefully by his arms, turned him around to face her.

"Never. Say. That." Pyrrha replied firmly, steel evident in her voice. "You are so much greater than you give yourself credit for, so stop telling yourself that you are any less."

"Miss Mistral Regional Champion is paying you a compliment, Mr Arc. You'd better do her and yourself a favour by taking her seriously for once." Burns grinned.

"Y-yes sir… Thank you once again, Pyrrha." Jaune replied, giving Pyrrha what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Luckily, the amazon seemed satisfied, and returned the smile, nodding in acknowledgement.

Finally, Burns shook the hand of the blue-themed leader of Team CYCN, smiling warmly. "It's a genuine pleasure to meet you, Mr Skye, and welcome to Vale. Though, I'm afraid it's not exactly the best time to visit…"

"No worries, Commissioner Burns, sir." Ceph laughed in reply. "We wouldn't have it any other way."

"Do you know how cold Atlas is this time of year? If Hell was directly under Atlas, it would have frozen over! There's no place I'd rather be right now than here!" York grinned, drawing a few laughs from the others.

"So, I'm sorry to be the one to ruin this happy moment, but what are we up against? Just how bad is the situation?" Ceph inquired, causing the smile on Commissioner Burns' face to fade, replaced by a worried frown.

"No need to be sorry, kid. You're right, it's time to get back to business." Burns nodded at Ceph, before taking in a deep breath and exhaling heavily.

"Well... This whole damn thing is a bloody mess," Burns sighed, running his fingers through his graying hair. "It all started when we received a '911' from the hospital ITSELF, saying something about a situation down at the morgue in the basement... About how some of the bodies down there weren't DEAD anymore, and had attacked the staff on duty."

Weiss's eyes widened. "Of course... Evermore Hospital was the hospital that took in all the cases of the disease, and carried out the autopsies on the 10 deceased patients, it was mentioned in the article this morning."

"Well… That certainly went well for them," York stated sarcastically.

"As ridiculous as the situation sounded, we sent out a team of first responders to investigate the situation. The final transmission that came from them was the team leader having a mental breakdown and ranting about how a new form of Grimm had massacred everyone in there, and that we had to quarantine the whole building, no evacuation was to be carried out. After that, we lost contact with them altogether, we currently presume that they are KIA. We promptly acted on their final instructions, and placed the hospital under a biological hazard quarantine. Since then, we have sent in three recon SWAT teams in an attempt to shed more light on the situation inside, only to lose contact with them too. We're at our wits' end here…" Burns grimaced, rubbing his temples. "I assume you are aware of your mission?"

"Yes, we were briefed before we came here." Jaune replied.

"Good," Burns said. "You will be a part of an assault team with Fire Team Epsilon, a group of eight SWAT team officers serving as your escort inside. They are fitted out in full biotox loadouts, and I advise that you at least acquire a biotox gas mask yourselves before entering the facility. Whatever's in there, it may be airborne."

The three teams nodded affirmatively and proceeded to a nearby SWAT van, where they were each issued and fitted with a gas mask by a fresh-faced police corporal.

"I look positively hideous in this…" Weiss whimpered as she caught sight of herself in the wing mirror of the van.

"Quit whining Princess, at least you don't have to worry about any part of your hair getting ripped off when you're strapping on this death trap…" grumbled Yang as she struggled to put on her own mask carefully, trying to avoid damaging a single strand of her beloved mane of hair.

_Weiss and Yang, ever the embodiment of vanity_… Ruby smirked to herself as she watched her partner and sister bicker over who was making a greater sacrifice by wearing the masks. The members of the other two teams snickered amongst themselves, amused by the antics of the two Vanity Queens-in-training.

"Alright, everybody fitted up? Good!" The police corporal who had issued the masks to the three teams signalled them to gather around him.

"This gas mask has a built-in communication headset, so that you can keep in touch regardless of your position when you're inside the building. There is a button built into the side of the mask, push it when you want to talk." The members of the three teams nodded, and took turns testing that their headsets were in working order.

"Is it just me, or are these masks incredibly hard to breathe in? As in, 'I have asthma, please help me' hard?" York griped as he keyed his microphone for the first time.

"That would be the heavy duty mask filters doing their job in saving your life, sir." The corporal laughed, "And yes, breathing in these takes some getting used to." York grumbled quietly to himself, but did not complain any further.

Now protected from potential airborne contagions, the three teams rendezvoused with Fire Team Epsilon, who were waiting by the entrance to the hospital. A man with the insignia of a staff sergeant was at the head of the group, giving the other SWAT personnel a pre-mission briefing. He took notice of the approaching group, and stopped his briefing. His eyes widened as he saw the 12 fresh-faced huntsmen and huntresses that made up the three hunter teams.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait just one dust-damn minute! With all due respect Chief Burns, sir, I was under the impression you called for a HUNTER team, not a bunch of teenagers with weapons!" The leader of the SWAT team asked in disbelief, confused and doubtful of the group of young huntsmen and huntresses he saw before him.

"Believe me son, when I say that their age belies their capabilities." Burns deadpanned. "From my previous run-ins with them, I daresay that their prowess on the battlefield can easily put some veteran Hunters and Huntresses out there to shame."

"But, sir, you DO see this, right? These 'hunters' are KIDS! We can't risk their lives in that hellhole, they wouldn't last a minute in there! I was under the impression that I was to be a Hunter escort, babysitting sure as hell wasn't part of the job description!"

"JUST FRICKIN' GET ON WITH THE MISSION ALREADY, SERGEANT CHURCH!" Burns bellowed, his patience wearing thin, storming away from the group.

Church sighed exasperatedly as he turned back to face the teenagers.

"You kids had better be half as good as the Chief makes you out to be. Let me say loud and clear you guys weren't exactly the first thing I had in mind when the big man told us the cavalry was coming, so you'd better prove that you're more than a bunch of walking liabilities in there..." Having ended his rant, he stalked off to resume briefing his men.

"Don't worry, Sarge! I swear we won't let you down…" Ruby called out after the Sergeant meekly, feeling slightly inadequate after Church's less-than-pleasant first interaction with them.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." Church grumbled as he walked away, "Don't expect me to babysit your sorry asses if everything goes to shit in there!"

Ruby pouted dejectedly at Church's cold retort and stared glumly at the ground.

Weiss, who was glaring with narrowed eyes at Church's retreating form, softened her expression and attempted to comfort her partner, who now resembled a kicked puppy in her demoralised state.

"Don't worry, Ruby. He'll have no choice but to take back the way he treated us sooner or later, after he's seen what we're really capable of! I promise to you on my family's name, and a Schnee never makes a promise that she cannot keep!" Weiss declared, with fiery determination in her eyes.

"Yeah, he probably just doesn't know who he's talking to, that's all!" Ceph added, smiling encouragingly, "I mean, we're not just 'a bunch of teenagers with weapons', we're THE Team RWBY, JNPR and CYCN! We were hand-picked by Professor Ozpin himself to go on this mission, instead of three teams of 'proper', battle-tested Hunters! That's gotta mean something, right?"

Ruby's pout slowly disappeared as Weiss's and Ceph's words of motivation hit home, and she grinned with renewed enthusiasm. "Yeah, you're right! By the end of today, we will show him just how wrong he is about us!" She turned to the others, and raised her fist dramatically. "Onward into the hospital, guys! Let's show Church that we can do this! Banzai!"

Ruby's newfound enthusiasm was infectious as always, and the rest of the teams smiled and raised their fists in unison, shouting a resounding "Banzai!" in reply.

With that, the group began making their way towards the entrance of the hospital, weapons at the ready.

"Thanks, Weiss. You really are the best teammate I could ever wish to have!" Ruby chirped to her white-themed partner, giving her a quick hug.

The heiress smirked slightly and replied, "Anytime, you dolt, anytime." With that said, she turned and began walking back to rejoin the others.

The red reaper then turned to Ceph, her eyes brimming with gratitude.

Under Ruby's intense puppy-dog stare, Ceph quickly turned the same shade of red as the reaper's cape.

"Y-you don't have to thank me, Ruby! You looked like you really needed the encouragem-"

Suddenly, Ruby stood on tip-toe, and gave the rogue a quick peck on the cheek. She took a step back from him, crimson colouring her cheeks once again.

"Thank you, Ceph."

Before Ceph could react, she disappeared in a cloud of rose petals to take the lead at the front of the group.

York swaggered over to Ceph's side with a shit-eating grin upon his face, and chuckled at the sight of his team leader running a palm over the spot where Ruby had kissed him in a daze.

"Man, I've really gotta consult my ear doctor… I swear I keep hearing this constant ringing in my ears, like the bell of a church… You would think there's a wedding going on!" The cowboy sang sarcastically, causing Ceph to snap out of his daze.

"Say that one more time and you'll start hearing a ringing in your ears for real," Ceph threatened, crackling his knuckles menacingly at the cowboy, who quailed immediately and took off after the others.

Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CYCN joined the SWAT team by the hospital doors. Church, upon seeing them, begrudgingly gave the three teams a curt nod, before waving his men into the building, immediately following suit himself.

Ruby and Weiss shared a look. "That's a start, I guess..." Weiss shrugged.

"...At least he isn't totally ignoring us or anything!" Ruby replied optimistically. She took a deep breath, and turned to the others.

"You guys ready to kick some Grimm butt?"

Her fellow hunters replied in a chorus of affirmatives and cheers, and Yang patted Ruby on the shoulder.

"Ready when you are, sis!"

Ruby nodded, and returned her gaze to the battered doors of the hospital building. "Let's go!" she shouted, waving the others forward.

* * *

The assault team entered the hospital waiting lobby cautiously, only to be greeted by a macabre sight.

The harsh, sterile, fluorescent lighting illuminated a scene of utter destruction. More than half of the chairs in the waiting area were ripped off their bases, some were even flung with what had to be superhuman strength at the surrounding walls; they now lay in pieces, nothing but hunks of scrap metal and plastic.

Blood liberally coated the walls, floor, and even the ceiling was not spared from assorted streaks and specks of the crimson substance.

The smell of death was so strong that it managed to penetrate the heavy duty filters of the gas masks, causing some members of the assault team to gag.

A small assortment of various dismembered limbs and gore were scattered in various places, and a single, beheaded corpse lay in a pool of blood next to the double doors leading further into the hospital.

However, something wasn't quite right about the scene that lay before the assault team. Blake was the first to realise just what it was.

"There's so much blood and gore in here… and only one corpse? There's no way Mr Headless over there contributed to all of this mess, he didn't even lose a limb. Where are the rest of the bodies?"

"That is a very acute observation there, ma'am." Church remarked.

"… Prior experience…" Blake replied hesitantly.

Her statement aroused a note of curiosity in the Sergeant, but he decided against pursuing the matter.

The rest of Team RWBY, however, knew that Blake was alluding to her past in the White Fang, where such a scene would have been one Blake was forced to witness or even participate in creating on a daily basis after the White Fang turned to violence to achieve what they wanted.

Yang put a reassuring hand on Blake's shoulder, and the feline faunus returned Yang a grateful smile behind her gas mask.

"Maybe the new type of Grimm have been eating the bodies? Just a thought…" York asked, and Colin grunted in agreement.

"That sounds like the best logic we have to go on right now." Colin rumbled.

"Let's just hope that's what's happening, and not something even worse…" Weiss whispered, shuddering involuntarily.

Jaune swallowed nervously, clutching Crocea Mors more tightly than ever.

"Let's just keep moving, we'll never know until we actually encounter one, right? Let's not jump to conclusions until we actually do…" Pyrrha cut in, casting a reassuring look at Jaune.

Jaune nodded, giving Pyrrha an appreciative smile. He attempted to relax his stance somewhat, a determined expression appearing on his face.

"So… which door do we take first?" Ceph asked the others, glancing at the blood-splattered double doors to the left and right of the waiting area.

An inhuman, guttural shriek rang out from the area beyond the door to the left.

"Well, there's your answer!" Yang replied sarcastically.

A member of Church's SWAT team, Tucker, approached the double door, peering through the small window above the door handle cautiously.

The fluorescent lights in the corridor beyond the door were all but destroyed, save for a single strip, which flickered erratically, throwing the space into eerie relief at intervals. The corridor was empty, save for the various streaks of blood and gore on the walls.

Tucker turned back to the others and whispered, "All clear." He then pulled open the door.

A corpse, minus its head and arms, which had been resting against the door just out of sight of the window, collapsed right into Tucker's arms. "MONTY'S CHEETOS!" he screamed, falling on his back and backing away from the dead body.

The rest of the fire team burst into laughter at the comical situation, even the usually quiet Nat and grumpy Church couldn't repress a chuckle. Church extended a hand to Tucker, who took it, and the Sergeant pulled him to his feet. "What's the matter, Private? Afraid of something that's already dead?" he smirked.

"Why don't you have a headless corpse jump scare you in the face, and see if you react like I did?" Tucker retorted weakly, attempting in vain to cover up his embarrassment.

Now certain that the corridor was all clear, the assault team proceeded down the hall, checking for survivors in the rooms on either side. The now familiar scenes of wrecked furniture and liberal amounts of blood and gore greeted each member of the fire team as they peered into the rooms, but one thing remained constant: Not a corpse was to be found.

"Alright, one more room and we'll move to the next section…" Church told the assault team, who nodded in acknowledgement.

Church walked up to the door at the end of the corridor, and signalled the others to form up behind him. Suddenly, he froze as he noticed a sickening, wet, crunching noise coming from just beyond the door. He signalled for the team to be quiet, and on the count of three, he opened the door silently.

A gruesome sight greeted the fire team. A tall, thin humanoid form was hunched over a corpse that had its abdomen split wide open. They watched in horror and disgust as the creature greedily scooped innards and flesh into an impossibly wide mouth. By a small stroke of luck for the Sergeant, its back was facing the door, and it had not noticed Church. He carefully unclipped a grenade from his belt, primed it, and rolled it towards the creature.

The creature, upon hearing the sound of the grenade hitting the floor, turned sharply to face Church and let out a guttural scream. Church quickly dived out of the way as the burn dust grenade exploded in a ball of fire and shrapnel.

As Church dived out of the way, he got a good look at the creature's face, and immediately wished he hadn't.

It was like something straight out of a horror movie. It had been human at some point in time, that much was certain, but the skull of the creature had protruded to form a thick white mask over its head, and its eyes glowed with a greenish-red light. Its fingers were excessively long, and ended in sharp claws meant for tearing into flesh. Pale, white spikes that resembled human ribs jutted from its back. Finally, its jaw had been split down the middle, and now opened to the side in addition to downwards like a normal mouth would, giving the earlier impression of an impossibly wide mouth. An impossibly wide mouth full of needle-like teeth.

Church quickly shook the mental image of the Grimm out of his mind, and waved one of his men forward to make sure the creature was dead. "North, make sure that thing's as dead as the poor bastard it was eating..." he groaned, getting to his feet slowly. Corporal North nodded curtly, before taking several careful steps into the room, sweeping the area with his M1014 combat shotgun. "Nothing but rubble and gore in here, boss!" he shouted from inside the room.

Suddenly, a viscous, clear droplet of an unknown substance landed on the visor of his gas mask. His eyes widened in fearful realisation. He took a steadying breath, and looked up.

"Mother of Monty-" He never got the chance to finish the sentence.

Long, thin fingers swiped down from the ceiling, impaling North in the abdomen. He screamed out in pain and struggled to bring his shotgun to bear, firing three times into the monster's face.

The first shot cracked the Grimm's mask, eliciting a howl of pain from it, the second tore a hole in its face, and the third caused the beast's head to explode in a cloud of black gore.

The now headless Grimm fell from the ceiling, impacting the ground with a sickening crunch, before slowly disintegrating into a cloud of ashes. North fell to the ground, no longer impaled, grunting in pain from the impact. A pool of red began gathering on the floor beneath him.

"Corporal!" Church shouted, all but ready to rush to his critically injured teammate's side.

Suddenly, a cacophony of guttural screams, much like the one the Grimm had made, echoed through the corridor.

"More of them!" Blake yelled urgently. "I hear at least 5 more hostiles, closing in on our location! They'll be all over us in 30 seconds!"

"Right, you heard Blake! Keep your eyes peeled, and shoot anything that comes through the door!" Ruby commanded. The others nodded, and took up a defensive formation facing the double doors.

"Hang in there, North!" Church whispered urgently, before he reluctantly tore his gaze away from his mortally wounded teammate, and readied his G36C assault rifle in preparation for the incoming Grimm.

Soon, a pair of the Grimm skittered into view on all fours, baring their gaping maws and roaring at the sight of the assault team. "FIRE AT WILL!" The red reaper hollered, as she brought Crescent Rose to bear, and began firing as fast as she could cycle the anti-materiel sniper rifle's bolt. A hailstorm of weapons fire tore into the two humanoid Grimm, rapidly reducing the creatures of darkness into nothing more than bloody puddles on the floor.

"Wait, Blake, you said there were 5 of them... Where's the other 3?" Tucker asked, confused.

Just then, 2 more of the Grimm burst through the door, followed closely by an odd-looking one which stood on its hind legs, much like a normal human being would. The Grimm's skull mask was more intricate than its two quadrupedal brethren, and its head appeared to be swollen in the area where its brain would have been. Upon seeing the assault team, the bipedal Grimm narrowed its eyes and stared at them, almost as though it was in thought. After a brief moment, it hissed menacingly at its counterparts and lifted a finger at the group. As though obeying a command, the other two Grimm roared in unison and lunged at the assault team, claws flashing. The assault team opened fire once again, and quickly dispatched them with relative ease.

The bipedal Grimm howled in what sounded like a mixture of rage and agony, clutching its over-sized skull in its hands. It glared hatefully at the assault team, before it suddenly took off in a sprint, disappearing from view. Yang, Nora and York made to chase after it, but Ruby held them back, shaking her head. "There could be more of them. Let's not risk getting separated."

Now that the coast was finally clear, Church rushed to North's side, cradling the corporal's head in his arms. "North?! North, stay with me, Corporal, we're going to get you outta here and fix you up, everything's gonna be fine!" He yelled, attempting to stop the bleeding from the five puncture wounds in North's lower torso.

"No need, Boss…" North rasped, coughing up a mouthful of blood. He gave his commander a weak smile. "I know I'm not gonna make it. Could you do me a favour? Pass me my sidearm…"

Church hesitantly freed the weapon from its holster, and passed it to North.

"From what we know, the infection spreads by blood-to-blood contact," North coughed up yet more blood as he spoke. "I… really don't want to become one of them…" Tears filled his eyes as he smiled. "So, I know what I have to do. You guys should go, carry on without me. You don't want to see this. Especially not the kids."

Slowly, Church nodded in sad understanding. "…Give the man some space, people." He looked at the others in the doorway. "Move on to the next area." The rest of the assault team began to move back in the direction of the lobby, heads low. Church took a deep breath, and looked North in the eyes.

"It was an honour having you in my squad, Corporal. See you on the other side, someday." Church and North nodded at each other a final time, and Church walked away from the room, bracing himself for the inevitable.

A single gunshot, unnaturally loud in the dead silence of the hospital building, echoed down the corridor. Church closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. _One_ _man down_, he thought. _Dust, I came here to avenge my men, not lose some more!_

Church re-joined the others in the hospital lobby. ""North's… done what he had to do." He said, with a solemn expression on his face.

The others nodded, and observed a moment of silence for their fallen teammate. After a short while, Blake spoke up. "We should list out everything we know about these Grimm so far."

Church spoke first, "For starters, we know that these things can be killed easily," The others smiled and nodded. "All we have to do is deal sufficient damage to them and they will go down for good."

"Although any bite or injury sustained will almost certainly mean you will become one of them." Weiss added, "So when engaging one, we should do our best to keep our distance." The others nodded in agreement.

"That special one, the one that walked on its hind legs? Is it just me, or did that thing seem... Smarter? Like it was a commander, and it was ordering the other Grimm around? With gestures that only a human could do?" Tucker asked. The others nodded, and exchanged worried looks.

"So we're looking at a new type of Grimm that has similar intelligence to a human being?" Yang concluded, chuckling weakly. "Whelp. Just when Grimm couldn't possibly get any worse, eh?"

"Should we give those ugly bastids a name? Not that they deserve one, but for easier identification's sake." York asked.

"…How about Nightcrawler?" Jaune asked uncertainly.

"That sounds pretty fitting, actually." Ruby gave Jaune a small thumbs-up.

"Yup, I like it, it has a certain ring to it…" York smiled.

"Nightcrawler it is, then!" Pyrrha smiled, patting Jaune on the shoulder, as the other members of the assault team murmured in agreement. "Good thinking, Jaune!"

"T-thanks, guys," Jaune smiled. "It was nothing…"

"What about that weird one? I think it needs a name of its own." Tucker asked.

"Well, seems like it was a leader of some sort, so let's call it the Adjutant." Church replied, as the others nodded in approval.

"Alright then, with that aside, what's our next course of action?" Yang asked Church.

"The door to the right of the lobby leads to a lift lobby and an emergency stairwell. This building has 8 floors, counting the basement, and we've just cleared the first level. As our mission is to clear the building of Grimm, we have to sweep the rest of them…" Ruby, Jaune and Ceph nodded.

"In the interest of time, we will have to split into two groups. Team RWBY, you, Team CYCN, and two of my men will head up to the second floor first, to get a head start with searching for survivors. You will now be known as Team Alpha. Team JNPR, you will be with me, and the remainder of my fireteam. We will go by the name Team Bravo." Church paused and sighed deeply, before continuing. "We are going to clear out the basement."

"Uh… What's so bad about clearing out the basement?" Jaune asked, looking at Church in confusion.

"Were you even paying attention to Chief Burns just now, you dunce? The basement is where the hospital's morgue is located! Monty Oum knows how many of those things are down there!" Weiss hissed, in disbelief of the blonde knight's ignorance.

Jaune's eyes widened as the gravity of the situation finally dawned on him. "Well… This is going to suck." he grimaced, imagining the horrors that awaited him and his team down below.

"Best of luck down there… You're gonna need it." Ruby patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"Thanks, Ruby." Jaune replied grimly, raising Crocea Mors once more. "Let's… Get this over with."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! Next up, will be the character bios for Team CYCN, which have been sorely missing for some time. I hope they will provide a better understanding of my OCs, and ensure that you don't have to try and figure out what I am talking about while you're reading any future chapters with regards to their physical traits, weapons, and personalities. Until next time, I will see you guys around!:)**


	4. The Belly of the Beast!

**Hey guys, JCtheWriterr here,** **with chapter four of RWBY: MUTATION!**

**1,256 views. 12 Favourites. 17 Follows.**

**... Thank you so much, guys. Seriously, from the bottom of my heart. Monty's passing took a toll on my motivation to write, and i've been struggling with writer's block for a while, so despite all of my promises to 'update soon', I kept finding myself at dead ends, and here I am, posting this chapter several months overdue. **

**Now, DON'T get me wrong! I absolutely LOVE writing this story, it is one of my most treasured creations, and I am sorry if I sound like writing it is a chore, it isn't. And it never ever will be, as long as you guys are still enjoying my work!:)**

**Please note that I have made some changes to certain details in the previous chapters, and fixed several spelling and grammatical errors that I spotted while revisiting my work. Therefore, if some details in this chapter do not make sense to you, please do revisit the previous chapters, and hopefully it will assuage any doubts you may have. Don't worry, the story-line and major plot points have not been modified, and you will not have missed out anything very important! I apologise for the inconvenience, and if you still have any queries or feedback, do not hesitate to let me know via private message.**

**Also, at the end of chapter 3, I mentioned that I would be putting up my OC bios for reference. I apologise once again as that endeavor of mine is going on the back-burner for now, as it has been the source of the massive delay between updates! I will post them as soon as I get a proper idea of how I want the back stories and certain details about the characters to be.**

**That aside, I believe the classic pre-chapter formalities are in order: I do not own any part of RWBY, or any part of Monty Oum's legacy. I only own my original characters, and the laptop I am typing this story with.**

**I hope you enjoy this new chapter, and if you do, a favourite, follow, or review would brighten my day so, so much. Sit back, relax with a beverage of your preference, and enjoy the story!**

**Until the next author's note, I will see you guys around!:D**

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Belly of the Beast**

The two teams went their separate ways at the emergency stairwell, Team Alpha ascending to the next level, Team Bravo descending into the basement.

* * *

**_Team Alpha_**

The two members of Fire Team Gamma in Team Alpha, Griff and Simmons, cautiously looked around the corner of the stairwell door on the second floor. Upon seeing nothing aside from the usual scenes of death and destruction, they gave the rest of their team the 'all-clear' and proceeded into the corridor.

"Level 2, Cafeteria and Wards 16 through 25... Who's feeling hungry?" York chuckled as he read the words on a sign beside the emergency stairwell exit.

Simmons turned to Ruby, and asked, "Any orders, ma'am?"

Ruby, who was sweeping the group's immediate surroundings for any signs of danger, blinked at the mention of her name.

"W-wait, you're talking to me?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm… pretty sure I wasn't talking to the wall."

"Oh! B-but I assumed that we were supposed to be escorting you, and you would be the one giving instructions…?" the red reaper stuttered, unsure of herself.

"Are you kidding me? After the amount of ass you guys kicked on the first floor?" Simmons laughed. "Church can say whatever he wants, but I'd very much prefer putting my life in the hands of you people , rather than risking your lives in ours." Beside him, Griff nodded in agreement, flashing the red reaper a thumb-up.

"O-okay," Ruby smiled in appreciation of the compliment. "Eh… Alright, everyone. Let's split up into pairs with your partners, so that we can cover more ground."

"Let's clear out the wards first. After that, we can take on the cafeteria as a group." As she finished, she jabbed a thumb over to a pair of rather heavy doors

The others nodded in agreement, and began separating into their respective pairs.

Ruby's white-themed partner acknowledged her with a small smile and nod as they paired up, to which the red reaper responded with a goofy grin.

"You see? Exactly as i'd promised you." Weiss said, patting her partner's back reassuringly. "Already we've won the respect of Church's men. That means we're one step closer to proving him wrong about us!"

"Yeah, that's definitely a start!" Ruby replied happily.

The duo readied their weapons and took up position outside one of the many doors that lined the corridor.

"On the count of of 3, open the door, and i'll sweep the room with Crescent Rose." Ruby whispered, "If there's more than one, i'll take out the first one I see, and you can back me up with Myrtenaster and your glyphs."

"That hardly sounds like a very sound plan..." Weiss replied in a critical tone, making Ruby turn to her, pouting.

"But when has a single one of our plans ever been sound? Ready when you are." she finished with a smirk, satisfied that she had successfully led her young team leader on. Ruby responded with a sound somewhere between a snort and a groan as she realised her partner was only pulling her leg, and not actually criticising her plan.

"Alright... 3, 2, 1... go!" On her team leader's cue, Weiss promptly pushed the door, allowing Ruby to cautiously scan the interior with the barrel of her sniper scythe. The now familiar sight of an abandoned hospital ward greeted her, with nary a single Grimm in sight.

Breathing a small sigh of relief, Ruby entered the room to make a full sweep of the interior, ensuring that she did not overlook any potential hiding places.

Just then, the loud report of an assault rifle firing an extended burst echoed through the corridor, startling the red reaper. She rushed out of the room she was in, looking around for the source of the noise.

"The gunfire came from that direction, we should check it out!" said the heiress, pointing to an area further down the corridor. Replying with a nod, Ruby waved her forward, before following suit herself.

In the doorway of another hospital ward further down the corridor stood Simmons, his assault rifle pointed at the interior of the ward, weapon smoking.

Ruby keyed her headset, and asked, "What's the situation, Simmons?"

"Nightcrawler, ma'am. It was eating some poor guy behind a privacy curtain, so I didn't see it at first. When it heard me opening the door, it tried to get the jump on me. Thankfully I noticed it in time and emptied half my clip into its face before it did."

Ruby peered into the ward in question, and sure enough, the slowly disintegrating corpse of a Nightcrawler lay sprawled face down on the hospital flooring.

"Good work, Simmons," said Ruby, giving the man a thumbs-up. "And, n-no need for formalities. Just call me Ruby." "If you say so, ma'—Ruby." Simmons quickly corrected himself.

Their brief conversation was interrupted by a burst of static from their headsets. "Heads-up, muchachos… I would praise you for killing one of them, Simmons, but you pretty much just brought the rest of the party to us with all of that noise! INCOMING!" York barked over the team frequency.

"Brace yourselves, guys. I was about to report it in, too, but York beat me to it," Blake's voice came not a few moments later, sounding unusually urgent. "I hear about 20 hostiles, coming from the direction of the cafeteria. They'll be all over us in about 2 minutes!"

"Roger that," Ruby stepped out into the corridor. "Good ear, York! Thanks for the heads-up."

"T-thanks," York replied, laughing nervously. "I… I got lucky, I guess..."

"Right…" Ruby replied, somewhat suspicious. _Besides Blake, no one else heard them coming__, and that's only because Blake's hearing is enhanced as a Faunus… York's hearing is good, but maybe a little too good?_

Ruby shook her head to clear her thoughts. Now was not the time to be doubting her friends. She would simply ask him about it later.

"Guys! We need to assemble into two rows at my position, short-ranged weapons in front, long-ranged weapons in the back! And make sure you have a clear shot at the cafeteria doors!"

The other members of Team Alpha quickly regrouped into the new defensive formation around Ruby, Weiss and Simmons, replying with various affirmatives.

"It's a big group we're dealing with here, so try to conserve your ammunition," Ruby advised her teammates. "Only open fire when you're sure that you have a shot!"

"Brace yourselves, guys! Here they come!" Blake shouted from her position. Ten pairs of eyes stared unblinkingly at the blood-splattered cafeteria doors, tensing up as the now familiar guttural screams began to echo down the corridor, slowly increasing in intensity.

Without warning, a lone Nightcrawler burst through the double doors. It skittered to a halt as its glowing eyes found the members of Team Alpha, and it screamed once again to alert its comrades to its discovery. An unholy chorus of screams echoed from the cafeteria in reply.

Its fellow Grimm now alerted, the Nightcrawler snarled angrily and launched itself at the group. Ceph opened fire on the beast, but to insufficient effect, even though the magnum-caliber bullets easily penetrated the Grimm's flesh and slowed its advance due to their stopping power. The beast shrugged off the damage it had received without much difficulty, and resumed its advance. Seeing that Ceph's attack was not very effective on the creature, Colin opened fire as well, spraying accelerated shards of burn crystal from the barrel of his SAW towards the Nightcrawler. The crystal shards detonated in miniature fireballs as they impaled the Grimm, causing a massive amount of damage. The beast howled in pain, crashing to the ground and skidding harmlessly a few metres away, missing most of its mid-section and its right arm. "Hellyeah, you nailed it!" York crowed, pumping his fist in the air.

His eyes widened in horror as the bullet-riddled Grimm quickly staggered back on its feet, its wounds closing up rapidly and a new arm sprouting from the stump on its right, as though it had never been injured.

But as it opened its mouth to scream a challenge at Team Alpha, a crossbow bolt impaled its eye-socket, and it keeled over, this time dead for good.

"I guess I spoke too soon…" said York, sighing in relief as he lowered his crossbow.

"Damn, no wonder the first Nightcrawler we encountered survived the grenade thrown by Church! These things have regeneration!" Ceph cursed. "That makes them harder to kill than we thought…"

"That means we'll really have to aim for the head... Not really my strong suit, but I'll give it a shot." Yang shrugged, her attention still fixed on the doors.

"Wait… I thought you guys said you heard like, 20 of these things. Where are the others?" Griff asked, scratching his head in confusion.

Before anyone could say another word, the rest of the Nightcrawlers in the cafeteria burst forth from the double doors, screaming vengefully over the loss of their fellow Grimm, followed closely by not 1, but 4 Adjutants.

'You just HAD to open your mouth, didn't you?" Yang growled as she raised Ember Celica.

"My bad…" Griff groaned, as the seething mass of Grimm lunged at Team Alpha, claws carving deadly arcs through the air. He squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself for his impending doom.

* * *

**_Team Bravo_**

Meanwhile, down in the basement, Team Bravo was faring no better than Team Alpha, having been ambushed by a slightly smaller group of Nightcrawlers the moment they had emerged from the stairwell.

"Dust, just how many of them ARE there?" Jaune yelled as he decapitated a Nightcrawler that was attempting to swipe at Pyrrha, as she wrestled with the Adjutant of the group, which had grabbed hold of her shield.

Pyrrha let out a battle cry, severing the Adjutant's fingers with the sharp edge of Akoúo̱ and shooting the beast in the head at point-blank range with Miló. "I think," she panted, "That was the last of them."

"Thanks for the save, Jaune." Pyrrha smiled gratefully at Jaune.

"Don't mention it. Partners look out for each other." Jaune beamed in return.

Church gazed at the corridor full of dissolving Nightcrawler corpses, and sighed heavily, slapping a fresh magazine into his assault rifle.

Another one of his men, Lopez, had fallen to a Nightcrawler in the heat of the battle, stabbed in the chest by the beast's claws. However, instead of simply dropping dead, Lopez's body had started convulsing, rapidly transforming into another Nightcrawler, which instantly attacked and came close to hurting Church.

However, Ren had quickly impaled it in the cranium with the blades of Stormflower, and used his semblance in the nick of time to make the Nightcrawler's head explode, saving Church's life.

While Church was grateful, he couldn't help but feel slightly frustrated. He had barely started his mission, and already he was two men down. _How are we going to pull through this? We have five more floors to go!_ He thought miserably. He took a deep breath, and looked at the others.

"Okay, Team Bravo. Split up and sweep the rooms, we'll deal with the morgue as a team."

The others responded affirmatively, and split up to search individual rooms.

Jaune was about to open the door of the room he had chosen to sweep, when he heard the faint but distinct sound of weeping inside the room.

He keyed his headset, whispering, "Guys? I think there's someone in this room…"

"Okay, I'll back you up, don't open the door yet." Pyrrha made her way quietly to Jaune's side.

Pyrrha initiated a countdown. "3, 2, 1… Go!" Jaune opened the door and peered in, Crocea Mors at the ready. The source of the weeping turned out to be a young woman in a blood-stained nurse's uniform, huddled in a corner of the room rocking slowly back and forth, whimpering to herself.

Seeing no threats in the room, Jaune lowered his weapon and slowly approached the nurse. "Ma'am? Are you alright?"

The woman looked up quickly and a hopeful smile appeared on her features.

"A-are you here to get me out of this place?" she rasped, sounding very dehydrated.

"Yes, ma'am, we are here to evacuate you out of the hospital building and to safety." Jaune smiled.

The woman got unsteadily to her feet, and started limping towards Jaune. "T-thank you…" The corners of her parched lips lifted in a weak smile, "I thought I was never going to be saved…"

Pyrrha, who stood just behind Jaune, noticed something off about the woman. _Did she just… flicker? I could swear by Dust that she just flickered like a hologram for a split second…_

"Jaune… I think you should step away from the lady…" Pyrrha cautioned in a low, warning tone, raising Miló in its javelin form.

"P-Pyrrha? What are you talking about? This woman's clearly been through living hell, she needs our help!"

"How could she possibly be a danger to us? She's barely even able to walk!" He waved his hands towards the woman, trying to emphasise his point.

"Jaune, I can explain later, right now, I need you t-" Jaune rounded on his partner and stared at her in a mixture of disbelief and anger.

The blonde knight closed the distance between himself and his partner, growing increasingly agitated. "She might die if she doesn't get medical attention, do want that on your conscience? I thought you were better than this, Pyrrha!"

A hurt expression appeared on Pyrrha's features, but she maintained her cautious pose, still wary of the woman. She beckoned to him pleadingly. "Jaune, please..."

"I-it's... alright... Don't be mad _at her_..." The woman's voice suddenly took on a sinister tone, as her image began to flicker even more erratically, her form flickering in and out of existence, before she finally disappeared, and a Grimm materialised seemingly from thin air in her place. It was significantly smaller and stockier than a Nightcrawler, and its head was swollen in size, giving an uncanny resemblance to an over-sized baby. At the centre of its forehead, a single, bulging, reddish-green eye glowed.

It possessed a set of razor sharp claws, much like the Nightcrawler, albeit shorter in length. It had a huge, circular mouth full of multiple rows of razor sharp teeth, like a grotesque, biological meat grinder.

"_BECAUSE SHE'S RIGHT!"_ The Grimm screeched, as its features contorted into an poor mimicry of a grin, before it let out an ear-splitting, metallic scream and lunged at Jaune from behind, its teeth spinning to life within its mouth like an angry buzz saw.

"JAUNE! GET DOWN!" Pyrrha yelled in a panic, tackling the blonde knight to the ground. Due to Pyrrha's quick reflexes, the Grimm missed its intended target completely and ran into a wall instead.

From her position on the ground, she hurled Miló at the Grimm's head before it could recover, and impaled it squarely in the back of the beast's skull. The beast's greenish-red eye dimmed, and it slumped to the ground, dissolving slowly into ashes.

Jaune stared at the corpse of the Grimm on the ground in mute shock for several seconds.

When he finally managed to open his mouth, he spluttered, "W-what the hell was that?!"

"A new form of Grimm, it seems." Pyrrha replied curtly, the hurt from Jaune's earlier words evident in her voice.

She hesitated for a moment, before grudgingly extending a hand to Jaune.

Jaune accepted her hand gratefully and she pulled him to his feet, before releasing her grip on his hand. She crossed her arms, and fixed him with a hard stare that screamed 'I TOLD YOU!'.

"I-I'm sorry, Pyrrha… I should have listened to you earlier…" Jaune stuttered nervously, too ashamed to meet Pyrrha's eyes.

Upon seeing that her team leader was truly contrite for his actions earlier, Pyrrha's expression finally softened, and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"...No worries, Jaune," Pyrrha finally replied, allowing a small smile to appear on her features. "To be perfectly honest, I was almost fooled by that Grimm myself, until I saw its disguise start to flicker…"

She gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "Well, now we're even. You saved me earlier, and now I've just saved you."

"Yeah… now we're even…" Jaune smiled, glad that Pyrrha had forgiven him so readily.

"Are you guys alright? What's going on over there?!" Church's worried voice crackled over the team frequency.

"We encountered another form of Grimm." Pyrrha quickly replied. "It used an interactive illusion of a woman to fool Jaune into approaching it, and almost managed to kill him. Luckily, I noticed a flaw in its deception: The projection flickers from time to time, so if you look closely enough, you can see through its illusion. However it becomes invisible while it is creating the illusion, so we were unable to see it until it was almost too late…"

"Dust, that sounds dangerous… What does the Grimm look like?" Church shuddered involuntarily.

"It's humanoid, like the Nightcrawler, but much smaller, about the size of an oversized infant. It has one central eye instead of two, though. Oh, and if you encounter one, you might want to avoid the jaws. It has a circular mouth with rows of teeth that can rotate within it like a meat grinder…" Pyrrha finished, reacquiring Miló from the floor where the Grimm had laid a few moments ago, the Grimm having now fully disintegrated.

"Well, if that isn't the stuff nightmares are made of... I don't know what is. Roger that, Pyrrha, we'll keep an eye out if there's any more of those Grimm." Church stepped out of the room that he had been sweeping. "Alright team, you heard Miss Nikos, keep your eyes peeled for the new Grimm. If you encounter any 'survivors' who exhibit the traits she has just described, do not hesitate to shoot on sight!"

"Let's give that thing a name. Jaune, do you have any suggestions?" Pyrrha asked.

"I-I can't really think of anything at the moment, sorry..." Jaune shrugged.

"... Actually, I have a suggestion." Ren murmured, getting the attention of his peers.

"Let's hear it!" Pyrrha replied, giving the usually quiet member of Team JNPR a thumbs up.

"Well... it's small in size, and it loves to trick people to their untimely deaths. I say we call it the Imp."

"Imp, huh? Well, okay then. That's short and sweet, we can definitely work with that." Church agreed.

"ENOUGH TALK! LET'S FIND ONE AND BREAK ITS LEGS!" Nora's voice exploded over the team frequency, leaving her teammates' ears ringing.

"Nora…" Ren sighed exasperatedly, "There's no need to yell… We can hear you just fine."

"Sooorrrryyy Reeennnn!" Nora chirped in reply.

Church rolled his eyes in mild amusement, and interrupted, "Get a move on, people. We'll give Team Alpha a heads up about the new Grimm as soon as we're done sweeping the rest of the rooms."

* * *

**_Team Alpha_**

_Is this what death feels like? _Griff wondered, his eyes squeezed shut. Around him, there were no sounds of conflict, no screams, all was quiet.

_ Huh, it didn't hurt at all! Maybe it ain't as bad as I though it out to be… Doesn't feel all that different from being alive…_ Griff chuckled internally.

Suddenly, the Private was snapped out of his thoughts as a loud 'THUD' sounded somewhere towards his right.

Griff's eyes flew open, and his mouth fell open in wonder.

No, dead he was not. He was in the same corridor, with the rest of Team Alpha, staring down the same large group of Grimm.

However, now, a translucent, white bubble enveloped Team Alpha, and the loud sound he had heard was the sound of a Nightcrawler trying, and failing miserably, to batter its way through the see-through barrier.

The private looked around, searching for the source of this new, life-saving shield.

His eyes fell upon Nat, her face a mask of concentration, as white tendrils of aura snaked from her outreached hands, giving form to the barrier. Beside him, Ruby was in a similar state of incredulity.

"Wow… How is she doing that…?" Ruby gaped as she took in the spectacle before her. The rest of Team Alpha, save Team CYCN, had similarly been surprised by the appearance of the shield, and had stopped firing at the horde of Grimm, leaving the Nightcrawlers to launch themselves at the barrier futilely.

"The aura barrier… only deflects Grimm attacks… aura attacks and dust projectiles can still pass through…" Nat grunted through gritted teeth as she struggled to maintain the protective barrier. "Keep firing... I can't... keep this up for much longer!"

Ruby shook herself from her reverie, and hastily shouted, "You heard her! Give those Grimm everything you got!" She raised Crescent Rose and fired, causing a nearby Nightcrawler's head to explode in a cloud of gore.

The others followed suit, firing, or in Weiss's case, casting, aura projectiles and dust attacks into the mass of Grimm that stood in their way.

The Grimm, faced with with Team Alpha's combined firepower and having no means of fighting back, were dispatched fairly quickly, reduced to nothing more than 24 broken, headless corpses slowly dissolving into black ash. Nat finally lowered her arms, breathing heavily from exertion, and the white shield flickered out of existence.

Yang wiped her brow with the back of her glove, exhaling in relief. "Whew... That was a thing…"

"We did it, guys!" Ruby cheered, punching the air in victory. "Nat, how did you do that just now? That was AMAZING!"

Nat's face cracked into a rare smile. "That… was my semblance. I can harness my aura into… various forms for offensive and defensive actions. You just witnessed… the defensive part of it."

"That's gotta be the most badass semblance I've seen all week... Scratch that. EVER!" Yang said with an impressed smirk, clapping Nat on the back gently.

"Good work, Nat. Take it easy for a bit, we'll cover you if anything else attacks us." Ceph smiled, resting a hand on Nat's back. The brunette gave her team leader a grateful nod, her exhaustion showing on her face.

"Her ability, while impressive, takes a toll on her aura. She needs a short interval to recover between the times she uses her shield. So don't count on her to provide on an invincible 'force field' to tide us through the entire mission, she can only use her defensive ability during emergencies." Colin warned the other members of Team Alpha, who nodded in understanding.

Colin took Nat's palm into his own, and a red glow emanated from his palm into hers for a few seconds. Nat's fatigued expression slowly disappeared, and she nodded in thanks to her brother.

"I can give other hunters a small boost in aura, to help speed up healing and aura recovery, as I have a very large amount of aura on my own. I double up as our team's medic when the situation calls for it." Colin explained to the others.

"He's like an oversized, less cuddly version of the Duraschnee Bunny, for lack of a better definition." York chuckled, earning a withering look from the juggernaut.

"You say that one more time York, and I'll stuff your hat up where the sun don't shine." Colin threatened, but York merely laughed in reply.

"I'd like to see you try, blockhea-"

"L-Let's carry on, shall we?" Ruby hastily cut in, gesturing towards the cafeteria doors.

The others nodded, taking a quick interval to reload their weapons, before beginning to make their way towards their next objective.

"Ruby, this is Church. Do you read, over?" Ruby's headset suddenly crackled to life, causing the young scythe wielder to jump in fright.

"I read you loud and clear, Church… what's up?" Ruby hastily replied.

"Just checking in to see how you're holding up," Church gave a mental sigh of relief upon hearing the red reaper's voice. "And to give you an important update: We have encountered a new form of Grimm. You might want to open this channel to the others so they can hear what I have to tell you."

Ruby immediately opened their private frequency up to the other members of Team Alpha, signalling to the others that they should listen.

Team Alpha listened attentively as Church gave a description of the new Grimm, going over its method of attack, abilities and appearance, and how one had almost deceived Jaune and Pyrrha with its illusion.

When Church finished his explanation, Yang was the first to speak. "Damn… As if a Grimm capable of turning us into kebabs wasn't bad enough... Now there's one you should never, ever ask to give you a blo—"

The rest of the brawler's sentence was drowned out by Blake clearing her throat loudly, and shooting her a warning glare. Yang crossed her arms, smirking mischievously, "...Just stating the obvious here."

Catching on to what Yang was implying, Ruby rolled her eyes briefly, before replying, "Copy that, Church, thanks for the update, we'll keep an eye out in case any of these 'Imps' show up. Best of luck, over and out."

"Good luck to you too, over and out." Church terminated the transmission, and turned to his waiting teammates.

"Let's go," he muttered. "The morgue isn't gonna clean up itself..."

* * *

**_Team Bravo_**

The morgue's reinforced double doors loomed before the members of Team Bravo. Church and Tucker took up positions on either side of the door.

Church sized up the condition of the door. A sturdy, steel chain was coiled around the handles of the doors, holding them firmly shut. In addition to that, it seemed that someone had hastily welded the chains to the door handles.

_Sloppy, but effective…_ Church thought to himself.

The doors had not budged a single inch, meaning whatever horrors awaited them within had not broken out of the room, and thus simplifying their clean-up operation considerably. That, however, also meant that they would need some serious firepower to get them open.

"Nora… this is your time to shine, I guess…" Jaune smiled at the ginger, hammer-wielding girl. The others backed away from the door so as to not obstruct her.

Nora's eyes widened in enthusiasm, and her usual, overzealous grin appeared on her face as she adjusted her grip on Magnhild.

However, instead of launching herself straight at the door, she turned to her magenta-eyed partner and looked at him expectantly. Ren turned to her in mild confusion, but quickly understood what she was waiting for.

Ren sighed, but a rare smile found its way onto his features. "Nora? Smash."

As Ren uttered the 'magic' words, Nora launched herself at the door with a battle cry, and swung Magnhild in a wide arc over her head. She squeezed the trigger on the war hammer's handle as the hammer head made contact with the door, launching a dust grenade into the chains holding the double doors shut.

The impact of the hammer and the grenade detonating combined completely disintegrated the chain, and the reinforced doors flew open with a loud bang.

"Alright, let's move!" Church yelled, and Team Bravo surged into the morgue, weapons at the ready.

The sickly smell of death and decay was much stronger within the morgue than it was outside. If it was unpleasant outside, then it would be something along the lines of unbearable inside. But it was to be expected: It was a morgue, after all.

What was NOT expected, however, was the presence of what appeared to be more than a few hundred creatures of Grimm. Nightcrawlers, Adjutants, Imps, and several hitherto unidentified types clung to the 4 walls and ceiling of the morgue, forming a solid, teeming mass of black and white.

The growls and screams of the Grimm, which seemed to form the basis of communication for the creatures, formed an unholy cacophony of noise that deafened the members of Team Bravo.

It also meant that Team Bravo's explosive entrance into the room had gone pretty much unnoticed, and the members were able to take a moment to observe their surroundings.

Ren squinted at the centre of the seething mass. "Guys! I think they're protecting something!" he hollered over the deafening cries of the Grimm.

"I see it!" Church hollered in return. At the centre of the morgue stood what could only be described as a small 'mountain', composed of the same midnight black flesh that made up the Grimm around it. At regular intervals, it would expand and contract, mimicking the rhythmic pulsing of a heart. Black veins, pulsing at the same rhythm as the mountain that they branched out from, snaked out in various directions, spreading further upwards into the other parts of the hospital building.

"It appears to be a nerve centre of some kind! How unpleasant…" Pyrrha remarked, squirming in mild discomfort as she watched the black mass expand and contract at a constant pace.

"Whatever it is, it seems important!" Jaune yelled. "We need to take it out!"

His teammates nodded affirmatively. "Well, we're listening as best as we can!" Church yelled in reply. "What do you have in mind?"

"All members of Fire Team Gamma, create a distraction! Your weapons will be fine for dealing with the Grimm!" Jaune ordered, thinking quickly. "Team JNPR, we will deal with whatever they're trying to protect! Nora's grenades will come in handy if that thing is heavily armoured!"

Having received their orders, Team Bravo separated into two smaller groups.

Fire Team Gamma primed a mix of flash-bang, smoke and dust fragmentation grenades, cooked the grenades until their fuses were down to roughly two seconds, and hurled them into the mass of Grimm on the walls at strategic locations.

The cocktail of grenades detonated in a devastating and disorienting mixture of shrapnel, blinding light and smoke, shrouding the Grimm and Team Bravo in a choking cloud of dense smoke.

The Grimm were not exactly the brightest creatures to have ever walked Remnant. Following the explosions, they howled in agony and rage, before immediately taking offense at their neighbouring Grimm, and lunging at each other, intent on tearing their counterparts to pieces.

Team Bravo, who had not been expecting the Grimm to start tearing each other to pieces, saw the window of opportunity, and seized it.

"ALRIGHT, JNPR, MOVE, QUICKLY! TAKE THAT THING OUT!" Church hollered at the top of his lungs. "WE'LL COVER YOU!"

Team JNPR charged, yelling at the top of their lungs.

Ren was the first to reach the 'mountain', using his semblance to store up a large amount of kinetic energy as he was running, and leaped at it, Stormflower's blades angled to stab into the midnight black mass. As he made contact with the fleshy surface, he unleashed the stored energy, causing the 'mountain' to ripple with the sheer force of his attack. However, despite the apparently devastating attack, the 'mountain' showed no signs of damage.

Nora was the next to attack, slamming Magnhild into the pulsating mass, with similar results.

Jaune stopped in his tracks, sizing up the situation before him. Two of his teammates had unleashed attacks upon the 'mountain' that would have reduced lesser Grimm to nothing but bags of broken bones and flesh, and yet the damned thing continued to thump rhythmically as though nothing had ever happened. _Okay, so brute force isn't going to work…_ he noted.

"JNPR! Fire your weapons at that thing! If brute force doesn't work, let's see how it fares against aura and dust attacks!"

Team JNPR retreated to a safe distance, and opened fire upon the 'mountain'. A mixture of aura-infused projectiles and dust grenades impacted the surface of the pulsing mass. Though most of the projectiles failed to make much of an impact on the 'mountain', they were dealing more damage than the melee attacks Nora and Ren had used earlier, with visible wounds appearing on the tough surface.

"We're doing it! Keep it up!" Jaune yelled as he watched his teammates continue to rain down weapons fire upon the 'mountain'.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them shook violently, causing Team JNPR to lose their balance and fall. Stumbling to get back his feet, Jaune looked up in the direction of Fire Team Gamma, and saw them stumbling and falling as well. Only Church and Tucker were still on their feet, firing wildly into the mass of Grimm that continued to tear into each other, and causing several bodies to fall.

A thunderous screech of pain and rage emanated from the 'mountain', followed by more tremors that threatened to make Jaune lose his balance again.

The Grimm, which up to the point in time, had been intent on tearing each other to pieces, stopped their fighting abruptly, and turned to face the direction that the screech had come from. They roared collectively in reply, almost matching the screech in its volume.

"WHAT ARE THEY DOING?!" Church yelled, barely audible over the collective roar.

With blinding speed, roughly a dozen Grimm launched themselves from the walls that they clung to, and landed on the 'mountain' in the centre of the room.

"I THINK THEY'RE TRYING TO SHIELD THAT THING!" Jaune yelled in reply, as the Grimm formed a crude barrier over the 'mountain' with their bodies.

"I don't think that's all to what they're doing… Look!" Ren got the attention of his teammates, as the collective roar of the Grimm died down.

The Grimm that had attached themselves to the 'organ' seemed to be _merging _into each other, their interlinked limbs and bodies melding together into a solid black mass. And even as Team Bravo looked on in horror, more and more of the creatures of darkness were launching themselves at it, joining the grotesque transformation process unfolding before them.

Soon, all the Grimm in the morgue had been assimilated into the now massive, midnight black 'mountain' that now filled most of the space in the relatively large space of the Evermore Hospital morgue. Besides a gentle pulsing and an occasional, aggressive throb, the black mass made absolutely no noise or movement.

"What the hell is that supposed to be?!" Tucker asked, lowering his shotgun and staring at the black mass in a mixture of awe and fear.

"Whatever it is… That many of those freaks combining together into a single monstrosity can't be good…" Church muttered, resting his finger on the trigger of his assault rifle, not willing to let his guard down.

As Church finished his sentence, a limb as thick as a tree trunk, and covered in bony white plates shot forth from the black mass and embedded itself into the floor beneath it with an earth-shaking crash.

"Why am I always right?!" Church groaned under his breath, as he braced himself for the fight that would soon come.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! ****Until next time, I will see you guys around!:)**


	5. I'm Back, With An Apology

**Hey guys, JCtheWriterr here... With a sincere apology.**

**I'm not dead, but I almost let the story die. My school and life commitments, and some of lifestyle choices, all led to me lacking the energy or the creative drive to continue the story for a very, very long time, and I am extremely sorry for letting everyone down. I just wanted to post this status update to let you, my valued readers, know that I am alive and kicking, and I have not given up on this story. I will get this story back on track, and continue to flesh out the world of RWBY: MUTATION.**

**Until the next author's note, I will see you guys around.**

**P.S. I'm sorry this isn't a chapter, I had some content written, but I felt that it could have been written better, so I am in the process of re-editing it. I will hopefully have it up soon!**


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